Coles, Costco, Woolworths are stocking Christmas items in August

Christmas may be 122 days away but some supermarkets are starting to get into the festive spirit already.

Supermarkets such as Coles and Costco are already stocking their Christmas range with a variety of sweet treats and decorations now on the shelves.

Photos taken at a Coles in Broadway, Sydney, showed stacks of fruit mince pies and a variety of puddings such as chocolate pudding, raspberry and vanilla pudding, salted caramel pudding and traditional pudding.

Meanwhile, a shopper took to Christmas Mums Facebook page to share a snap of Christmas decorations at a Costco in North Lakes, Queensland, on Saturday.

The decorations included a Nutcracker statue, baubles, a holiday village with 13 pieces with a $199.99 price tag, a Peanuts statue with Snoopy decorating a Christmas tree with a $79.99 price tag and table centre pieces costing $44.99.

However stores such as Kmart, Woolworths, Big W, Target and Aldi are yet to bring their range out.

While typically, social media users are shocked when Christmas or Easter-related items come out months early, this news has sparked mixed reactions.

“But it’s only August,” one social media user, paired with a face palm emoji.

Another joked: “Are there hot cross buns and Easter eggs out yet?”

One simply said “no, no, no” while another called it a “dumb” move.

Others had a lot more Christmas cheer. One person commented a gif of Will Ferrell in the popular Christmas movie Elf jumping up and down and screaming “I’m so excited”.

“I have the big nutcracker – unfortunately it’s finding somewhere for the rest of the year that’s the problem! mine is now sitting at my front door (although it’s actually my Mum’s),” one social media user explained.

One added: “I’m going to pop past Costco today. LOL.”

“[The Disney village is] so cute, it’s to add on to the holiday home from last year I think,” another said.

Patrick Noone, Costco Australia’s managing director, told news.com.au the store offers a range of high quality Christmas decor for great value.

“Our merchandise strategy is early in, early out, which is why we stock seasonal items ahead of time. This means that what’s available one day is often gone the next, which is particularly true for our holiday and Christmas items,” Mr Noone said.

“We take this approach as it allows us to maintain a high-quality product offering while keeping prices low for our members and creating an exciting treasure hunt atmosphere in our warehouses and online.”

Coles’ Christmas range has popped up into some stores early but Aussies will be able to find the items officially introduced from August 28 to stagger costs to customers.

Last year, Coles sold 40 per cent of fruit mince pies and 50 per cent of Christmas puddings before December even started.

This year, one new item is expected to sell 10.8 million units, according to the supermarket.

Kate Roff, Coles general manager of bakery said: “This year we are introducing a mini fruit mince pie 9 pack with an adorable Christmas tree design on top, exclusive to Coles.

“It doesn’t get more festive than that, these delicious morsels are the perfect two bite size and a fantastic addition to jazz up any holiday dessert plate.”

But, for those without their Christmas range out yet, many stores revealed when shoppers will be able to buy it.

A Kmart spokesperson told news.com.au shoppers will be able to spot its Christmas range from the middle of October, saying there will be new items in ornaments, decorations and lighting.

“We encourage our community to also keep an eye out for our incredible and affordable trees which will come in a variety of different price points and styles. Our cards, wraps and bonbons will also continue to be best value and full of Christmas cheer with our own in-house design,” the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, a Big W spokesperson revealed that shoppers would be able to find the full range from September 14 in store and online so customers had as much time as possible to get the items they needed.

“With many families being budget conscious this year, we’re expecting customers to be looking for more ways to space out their spend and save on items where they can,” the spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, at Woolworths, items such as fruit mince pies, rocky road tarts, Christmas pudding, chocolate rum balls and iced fruit cakes will be available from August 30.

“We know some of our customers are already counting down to the festive season, and with the cost of living pressures we’re all experiencing some people may begin planning their Christmas budgets a bit earlier this year,” a Woolworths spokesperson told news.com.au.

“From next week we will start introducing some of our Christmas range to help our eagle-eyed and eager customers start getting ahead of the festive season, however, the full Christmas range won’t appear until towards the end of the year.”

The supermarket’s Everyday Rewards program also allows members to bank their points to spend over the Christmas period.

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Target Australia also has a release date for their range of September 14, having three different trends – “heritage” which is traditional, “crafted joy” which is more whimsical and “pure joy” which is classic Aussie summer themed.

“We’re particularly excited about our new Tree in a Box, a literal one box Christmas set-up including a 6ft pre-lit tree, our best-selling 100 pack baubles and a tree topper for only $120,” a spokesperson revealed.

Meanwhile, an Aldi spokesperson revealed items would be in store closer to the big day itself, and they were looking forward to the responses to new products.

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